Now playing in a public arena near you  ...  ARENA WARS!  THUNDER OVER THE DOMES!
Featuring Daryl ‘the Kat’ Katz, billionaire drug(store) kingpin, the man who wants it all  — and more! — versus Northlands ‘not-for-profit-agricultural-society-that-has-been-around- for-more-than-100-years-and-only-wants-what’s-best-for-Edmonton’ Park.

At stake, a shiny new money-spinning arena, to replace the dull, old money-spinning arena. Who will win? Who will lose? Who will pay? (OK, we know the answer to that last one.  We will.)

Last week’s announcement that Northlands was hiring its own consulting firm to look into options for a new arena marked not just an escalation of the simmering feud between Katz and Northlands, but a full-fledged outbreak of hostilities.

Let’s recap.

Oilers owner Daryl Katz, who is seen in public about as often as J.D. Salinger (RIP), wants to build a new arena to house his tarnished crown jewel, the Edmonton Oilers. (Ignore for a moment that as far as crown jewels go, the Oilers are strictly cubic zirconia. It takes many years to design and build a facility like an arena, so don’t base your opinion on the value of a new arena solely on the present day Oilers. The current Oilers stink so bad, as the old joke goes, if they played a game in my backyard, I’d draw the blinds. But in the future ... who knows?) The current building is certainly serviceable, if somewhat frumpy by the tarted up standards of modern arenas. It was designed for 15,200, and now seats 16,839.  The seating is terribly cramped (I don’t remember people in the 1970s being oompa-loompa sized, but it seems that way) and the concourse areas are hopelessly log jammed at intermission and during the stampede to flee the stench of another Oiler loss. Still, it does the job, which is to provide unobstructed viewing of sports events and concerts. Excruciating leg cramps are just an added bonus.

So let’s, for a moment, put aside the question of whether we need a new arena. In my view, we do. Times change, and people’s expectations change. In just the same way people buy new cars when their old car still works fine, or move into larger homes when their old house still does the job, Rexall Place is due for replacement.

So if we’re agreed a new building is needed, the questions then become, where to build and who will run it? That’s where the battle between Katz and Northlands begins.

Katz envisions a building downtown that will revitalize our improving but still struggling city core. He’s willing to put up $100 million of his own money towards the building.

Here’s the sticking point. Northlands owns Rexall, with the Oilers as primary tenants. Northlands, understandably, wants in on any new arena action. Reports indicate Katz has made a proposal to Northlands for their participation, but apparently the Northlands people haven’t responded. Northlands blindsided the Katz people last week by announcing a study into their own building, which they call a “made in Edmonton” solution. (That’s a sly dig that somehow the Katz proposal is not “made in Edmonton”.) 

What is Northlands up to? Fighting for its life, I think.

Sure, they’ve got horseracing and gaming (horseracing is running on three legs these days), acres of exhibition space on the Northlands grounds, the exhibition, and multiple other events. But it’s the arena that brings in the big bucks. According to Northlands annual report, in 2008 “facility sales and client services”, which includes Oiler games and concerts, brought in $42 million in revenue. Rexall is one of the most heavily attended concert venues in the world (no. 23), and the second third busiest in Canada.

Katz, of course, knows the millions that pour into Northlands via concerts and other events. You can’t blame him for wanting a piece of that profitable pie, especially if he puts in $100 million of his own cash. And Northlands, of course, can’t afford to lose all that revenue. Nor can Edmonton afford competing arenas.

The bottom line is this: no one person or entity can afford to build a new arena. Public money will be needed, and there will be intense pressure to give Northlands a piece of the action to make the use of tax money more palatable to the public. I don’t believe Northlands is serious about building a new arena, but they are serious about being part of whatever new arena arises.

mauricetougas@live.com